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Bad Artist

One player draws a secret word, everyone else races to guess it. Letters appear as hints.

3-10 players15-30 min
Best with a TV
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Bad Artist on the shared screenBad Artist on a player's phone

A draw-and-guess party game. Each turn one player picks a word and draws it on their phone; the strokes appear live on the TV and on every phone. Everyone else types guesses: the faster you get it, the more you score, and the drawer scores for everyone who gets it. Blanks show how long the word is, and letters appear one by one as hints. Words come in English and Vietnamese, and a guess counts in either.

How to play Bad Artist

Goal

  • Score the most points by guessing other players' drawings fast, and by drawing so that others guess yours.

How it works

  • Each turn, one player picks one of three words (easy, medium, hard). Only their phone shows the words.
  • They draw it on their phone. Every stroke appears at once on the TV and on every phone. No letters or numbers.
  • Everyone else types guesses. Wrong guesses show for all; a guess one letter off tells only you “So close!”.
  • Blanks show how long the word is, and letters appear one by one as time runs.
  • The turn ends when everyone has guessed or time is up. Everyone draws once a round.

Points

  • Guessers score 100 to 300, more the faster they guess, and 50 more for the first.
  • The drawer scores up to 300, by the share of players who guessed.
  • A skipped turn scores nothing for anyone.

Words

  • The game is in one language, set by the host: English or Vietnamese. Only answers in that language count.
  • Accents, capitals and spaces don't matter: “con meo” is “con mèo”. Northern and Southern words both count.
  • Typos and plurals are only “close”, so keep trying.

Learn to play: How to play Bad Artist (Họa Sĩ Dỏm): draw it, guess it, laugh at it

Questions and answers

How many people can play?
3 to 10. It is best with 4 to 8: enough guessers for a race, and everyone draws often.
Do I have to be good at drawing?
No, that's the joke in the name. Stick figures and arrows are fine. Only letters and numbers are off limits.
Can we play in English or Vietnamese?
Either. The host picks one language in the settings, and the whole game uses it: the words to draw, the blanks and the answers. Vietnamese can be typed with or without accents.
Do we need the shared screen?
No. Every phone shows the drawing as it is drawn. A TV makes it big for the whole room.
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